Wolfsburg go top as Bayern are hammered at the Volkswagen Arena
Edin Dzeko and Grafite grabbed two goals each as Felix Magath’s Wolfsburg crushed Bayern Munich 5-1 at the Volkswagen Arena. With overnight leaders Hertha Berlin losing 3-1 to Borussia Dortmund, Wolfsburg now lead the German Bundesliga in one of its most fiercely contested season.
Christian Gentner gave Wolfsburg the lead before half time, only to see it cancelled the very next minute by Luca Toni. Things were fine till the hour mark, and then Wolfsburg fired four goals in the next fifteen minutes as Bayern were torn apart. Dzeko scored twice, in the 63rd and 65th minutes, and his striking partner Grafite also got into the act with a brace. Grafite’s second goal was exceptionally good- he was the only Wolfsburg player amongst a sea of Bayern ones, and yet managed to score.
Some serious soul searching for Bayern to do ahead of their midweek Champions League clash against mighty Barcelona.
German Bundesliga week 24 roundup
Here are the results from Week 24 of the German Bundesliga- played on March 14, 2009.
Hertha Berlin 1-0 Bayer Leverkusen ( Andriy Voronin)
Voronin’s eighth goal of the season keeps Lucien Favre’s side four points above Bayern Munich in the league.
Karlsruhe 0-1 Arminia Bielefeld (Zlatko Janjic)
Karlsruhe remain stuck at the bottom, losing this crucial fixture to Bielefeld. Arminia now have 24 points from 24 games.
VFL Bochum 0-3 Bayern Munich (Ze Roberto 32′, Philipp Lahm 60′, Martin Demichelis 90′)
Bayern Munich, playing without Franck Ribery and Miroslav Klose ( injured during the match) despatched Bochum without a sweat at the Rewirpower Stadium. Ze Roberto, Lahm and Demichelis scored for the defending champions.
Cologne 2-4 Borussia Monchengladbach (Miso Brecko*2/ Michael Bradley*2, Karim Matmour, Rob Friend)
Gladbach move above Cottbus with this crucial win over Cologne. However they still remain in the drop zone as Bochum have a better goal difference than them. Bad result for Cologne, but they are still in a safe mid table position.
Frankfurt 1-1 TSG ( Michael Fink/ Carlos Eduardo)
Winter leaders Hoffenheim’s title challenge seems to be fading away, and they were dealt another blow when they failed to pick up three points at Frankfurt. Carlos Eduardo’s first half strike was cancelled out by Michael Fink. Hoffenheim are now six points behind leaders Hertha Berlin.
Wolfsburg 4-3 Schalke ( Grafite*3, Edin Dzeko/ Heiko Westermann, Jermaine Jones, Kevin Kuranyi)
Grafite’s hat trick allowed Wolfsburg to beat Schalke in this seven goal thriller at the Volkswagen Arena. Felix Magaath’s boys are now tied with Bayern on points, but are third on goal difference. Schalke miss out on an oppotunity to climb over Leverkusen and Stuttgart in the table.
Hannover 96 4-4 Borussia Dortmund ( Jiri Stajner, Arnold Bruggink, Mike Hanke, Mikael Forssell/ Alexander Frei*2, Florian Kringe*2)
Hannover came back from two goals down to snatch a point in this fixture at the AWD Arena. Dortmund lead 4-2 with ten minutes to go, but Mike Hanke’s goal followed by Forssell’s penalty gave the home side a draw. Dortmund further lose ground, but Hannover get a very valuable point.